The present invention relates to footwear apparatus designed for the protection of animal feet, specifically the paws of dogs or cats and the method used to hold such footwear in place. There are a variety of socks, boots and other footwear available for pets. Typically there is an elastic band, a draw string, or some sort of strap near the animal's ankle on each leg that can be tightened and is intended to keep the footwear on the foot or leg. Sometimes the footwear is for medical reasons and sometimes it is used to protect the animal from harsh surface conditions, extreme weather conditions, or other exterior environmental hazards such as the salt and chemicals used to melt snow from sidewalks and roadways.
The problem is that such footwear is difficult to keep in place. Dog legs get larger as you move up the leg and get closer to the body. The footwear constraints or fasteners must currently be drawn so tight as to cut off proper circulation to the limb or it becomes uncomfortable. Often the footwear makes it difficult for the animal to walk while wearing because the footwear comes loose and slips partially off. Individual boots are sometimes lost while walking a dog at night.
When an animal has an injury to its paw it can be difficult to keep the animal from chewing at the bandage. The veterinarian sometimes places an awkward cone around the neck of the animal to prevent the animal from turning its head far enough to reach the wounded area and remove the bandage sometimes causing additional damage to the foot or paw.
The background art includes U.S. Pat. Des. 376,448 to Caditz and U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,333 to Taylor. Both of these patents relate to canine footwear. The Caditz design patent illustrates a cover up boot for a canine. There is no reference to or description of the harness or straps which would hold the boot in place. The design illustrates a boot with a buckle attached as a part of the boot. The buckle connector loop appears to be sewn in place at the end of the leg strap. There appears to be no adjustment at the buckle. The Taylor patent provides two embodiments. In both embodiments a buckle is affixed to the footwear. There are two leg straps. Each leg strap connects continuously from the buckle on the left leg to the buckle on the right leg.
In the first Taylor embodiment there is a longitudinal strap that attaches to the two leg suspender straps and the dog collar. It has an adjustment buckle in the middle. The second Taylor embodiment, presumably for smaller dogs, has two suspender straps that cross in the middle and are sewn in place at the crossover. The second embodiment is used in the same manner as the first embodiment but it does not have the longitudinal strap connecting the suspender straps to the collar.
Taylor includes a footwear harness or footwear suspender system that prevents the canine sock, bootie or footwear from coming off. However, it only solves only part of the problem. It can be challenging to get the footwear on and properly adjusted for comfort. There are many types of footwear that may be worn for a variety of purposes or weather conditions. The lengths of footwear vary. Some are elastic. Once a set of footwear has been fitted to a canine it is desirable to be able to quickly remove and quickly replicate placing the footwear back on without having to repeat the fitting and adjusting process. The front feet of a canine are not the same as the back feet. The left side boot may not be the same as the right side boot. Each paw is different. Therefore, each leg strap must have some means to be fitted, labeled or tracked as front or back, left or right. Thus it is desirable to have a leg strap designated for each leg and additional sets of leg straps are required for each set of footwear so fitting and adjustments can be preserved.
There are several problems in the prior art. Connectors of any type with one piece affixed to the footwear present a problem. In Caditz it requires that the harness system must have a compatible connector. In Taylor it requires that the end of the suspender strap must not have a connector. In Caditz the harness system can be used only with a sock or bootie fitted with a compatible connector. This means the pet owner cannot purchase another style of preferred footwear from a competitor unless it uses the same fittings. There are many varieties of connectors and these are not generally available in a hardware store, especially if you only need one side and not the other. In Taylor the suspender strap has no opposing connector.
Another difficulty is presented when the connector is attached to the footwear. Each canine is different, footwear is different, and personal preferences vary. The location where the connector is attached to the footwear may not be the most suitable for fitting and adjusting the footwear to the pet.
On the other hand, even if the Taylor embodiments have a quick snap suspender clamp of any kind attached to the end of the leg strap there might be no adjustment in the strap length, and each time the footwear is removed the properly fitted location of the clamp is lost and must be refitted each time the footwear is again put onto the pet. The Taylor patent does not address these issues. As shown, there is no means for quickly releasing each leg strap individually without losing the adjustment, and the length of the leg strap must be redetermined each time the footwear is put on, and each time a different style of footwear is worn. Adjusting the leg strap at the paw end of the leg strap makes it necessary to readjust the suspender system each time it is worn, and removing the footwear becomes a time consuming process. A pet owner would likely find this to be a cumbersome and time consuming process. The footwear harness system must be easy to put on and take off.
In the prior art as defined by the Taylor embodiments there are just two leg straps for four legs. This means that when the leg straps are attached to the footwear, there is no other way to remove the harness except by disconnecting the footwear from each end of the leg strap. In addition the only place for adjusting the length of the leg strap is at the buckle end where the leg strap is attached to the footwear. One disadvantage this creates is that the adjustment of the leg strap on one leg may affect the adjustment of the leg strap on the opposite end of the leg strap. In addition, the leg strap adjustment applies only to the footwear currently worn. If the pet owner wants to change to another style footwear, needs to replace a worn out sock, or wants to wash the footwear then the leg strap adjustment must be lost so the footwear can be removed. In adjusting either elastic footwear or elastic leg straps it is a matter of practice to determine an adequate amount of tension on the footwear, while leaving enough additional stretch so the leg strap harness system can flex with the movement of a running, rolling, jumping, or sitting dog. A two strap system does not allow quick release and quick connecting of the leg straps without losing some or all of the footwear adjustment.
The two strap system as shown in the prior art presents these additional constraints. Suppose the footwear has a slip buckle attached as shown in Taylor. The leg strap must have a plain straight end in order to use the slip buckle. However, the plain end leg strap cannot be connected to any other footwear unless such other footwear has a connector attached to it such that it can be attached to a plain end leg strap. If footwear has a connector such as shown by Caditz the one side of the coupling connector is attached to the sock. The other side of the coupling is attached to the leg strap. This limits the use of this harness system only to footwear with couplings that are compatible with the opposite side of the coupling connector attached to the strap.
The universal footwear harness of the present disclosure is aimed at overcoming these and other shortcomings present in the background art.